Tuesday, September 5, 2017

I am no newbie when it comes to long distance running. I ran
my first marathon my junior year of high school, my second just last year, and
a handful of half marathons between the two full ones. Yet I am also a
Massachusetts native, and have almost exclusively run at or around sea level,
so one of the biggest adjustments to life in Kenya for me has been training my
body to run at over 5,000 feet in elevation. Needless to say, it has been a
struggle.

That being said, my jealousy for the hyenas is very real. Hyenas
are the marathoners of the Mara. Once they have selected their prey, spotted hyenas
can chase them for several kilometers, potentially reaching speeds around
60km/h. They have a number of physiological advantages that allow them to be
such superb runners. Their claws are non-retractable, giving them good traction
and allowing them to make sharp turns. Compared to their body size, they have a
very large heart, giving them incredible stamina. They also have a long snout
filled with blood vessels. As they breath, the exposed air vessels help to cool
their body temperature, allowing them to run farther without overheating than many
other runners in the Mara.

While the Mara holds these amazing distance runners, Kenya
itself is also famed for producing some of the best distance runners in the
world. Particularly, the Kalenjin tribe is famed, with one member, Wilson
Kipsang (pictured below), setting the record for the fastest marathon time ever
recorded—26.2 miles run in 2 hours 3 minutes, which averages to 4 minutes 42
seconds per mile. Diet and a lifetime of living at a high altitude certainly
help explain why people from the Kalenjin are such phenomenal runners, but
they, like the hyenas, have physiological adaptations that appear to give them
an advantage. They have remarkably thin ankles and calves. When running, the
leg acts as a pendulum, and having as little weight as possible at the bottom
makes it easier to swing, which could make a runner faster. For more
information on Kalenjin runners follow this link: http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/11/01/241895965/how-one-kenyan-tribe-produces-the-worlds-best-runners

Wilson Kipsang has
the fastest marathon time ever recorded, running at roughly 13 miles per hour
for 26.2 miles straight. But even he would be outstripped easily by the hyena.
So in my own personal opinion, spotted hyenas are some of the best marathoners
in the world.

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